Any other way
by InkPaintLove
Summary: one shot! Phil and Clint talk children and family. Fluff (with a healthy helping of angst) and slash (mentioned in passing). Phil x Coulson, Romanogers if you stare. Establish relationships. Rated T to be safe. ((cover by johanirae.))


AN: Just a little piece of PhilxCoulson/ Avengers family fluff drabble. May or may not be compliant with Thor: The Dark World or Captain America: The Winter Soldier due to me not having seen those yet. This takes place in the same universe as my other story, Just her luck. I hope you enjoy this piece- let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers, I just own a laptop and a fanfiction account. I am not making any profit off of this.

* * *

Phil finds his lover staring at the baby of the Black Widow and Captain America. At least, he thinks it's their kid- the baby he first saw twelve hours ago is much less red than the one in front of them right now. Glancing down, he has to squint to read the nametag on the front of the little crib, which confirms that it is the child of the two Avengers. As if the child with the deep red hair could have belonged to anyone else, Coulson muses. Penelope, they named her, he recalls. "Cute kid." He murmurs, causing the archer to jump approximately ten feet into the air. If he didn't hear Phil coming- Phil and his footsteps that seem to get heavier and heavier by the day, it seems to him- then he must be pretty deep in thought. "Yeah." Clint nods, a grin lighting up his face, "She'll look just like Tasha when she's older." Phil doesn't know how he knows that, but the two have spent enough time together. They're silent for a few minutes as they stare at the first avenger baby.

"She'll have Steve's baby blues, I bet. And then I'll have to keep you from killing every boy around her when she turns 13." Phil takes the man he love's hand and intertwines their fingers, rubbing the silver wedding band on his husband's fourth finger. Clint smiles, but it doesn't reach his eyes, not like his earlier grin. Something is making Hawkeye pensive, Coulson figures, so he'll keep talking until Clint spills. Leaning against the window, back to little Penelope, he continues to talk. "All of us living in the tower together, fairy tales told by Thor and JARVIS, science projects with Uncle Tony and Uncle Bruce, English reports with Grandpa Phil, archery lessons with Uncle Clint…"

"Actually, that's Godfather Clint, if he'll take the title." Steve's deep timbre echoes down the hall from the doorway he just stepped through. Clint's mouth is wide and gaping, his eyes shiny. If Phil didn't know that his partner hadn't cried since he was 21 (or so he claims), he'd think he was tearing up. Good thing he knows better.

Steve reaches them and holds out a hand that Clint promptly takes, and Steve pulls him into a man-bro hugs before the wily archer can get away. Steve gives Coulson only a handshake, though, always reverent to those in authority. And then Cap spots his daughter and has eyes only for her.

Phil and Clint go to stand on either side of the man, letting him bask in the glow of fatherhood. Soon, however, Steve tears his eyes from his daughter and turns his head to Clint. "So, what do you say, buddy? Be Penny's godfather? Natasha was intent on coming and finding you herself, but the nurse made her stay because she's still bleeding a bit. Tasha was halfway to hysterical, so I told her I'd come get a straight answer from you."

"I… I'd… I mean…" Clint sputters, and Phil can almost hear the thoughts that must be racing through his head right now- _what if I'm not parent material? What if something happens to Natasha and Steve and I have to raise their child? Oh god, I can't raise their child!_

Phil walks behind the Captain to slide an arm around Clint's waist and to intervene on his behalf. _Once a handler, always a handler_, he thinks. "Clint would be honored to be Penny's godfather." Coulson informs Steve, who breaks out in a big grin. Clint nods his head, his grin almost as large as Steve's, earlier freak out forgotten.

Steve now turns to the handler, a little smile on his face, but there's something shining in his eyes that makes Phil think an unpleasant topic is about to be broached. "Agent Coulson… I mean Phil… Natasha and I have been thinking, and we really want Penny's godparents to be a couple. We were wondering if you would do us the honors of being her second godfather."

Phil's heart skips a beat, stunned. He can't be a father, why not be a godfather? He's always loved kids. Coulson can't keep the smile off his face as he answers, "Yes, god, yes. I would be honored, Captain." The super soldier smiles, but the look in his eyes makes Phil slightly reproachful. "But that's not the only reason you want me to be a godfather, is it?"

Giving that same sad smile again, Steve shakes his head. "We were thinking about… It's just… If something happens to Natasha and I, then chances are something has happened to Clint as well. And if he escaped that time, well, he might not the next. We can never plan these things. By making you her second godparent, we'll know she'll have someone to love her and keep her safe… someone that doesn't put their life on the line as often as we do. We know you'd instill the morals we want her to have in her, as well as teach her how to defend herself and others. We wouldn't have it any other way."

The conversation turned slightly morose, Phil just nods. The three men stand in front of the viewing window, before a nurse comes and wheels her to Natasha's room, and Steve accompanies them with word that they'll probably come home tomorrow afternoon. Hand in hand, Clint and Phil walk out of the New York City hospital into the cool night air.

* * *

Later in bed that night, Phil awakes to find Clint crying softly. "Babe, what's wrong?" he asks with concern as he flicks the bedside lamp on. Clint doesn't answer, so the handler maneuvers the lithe archer onto his lap, his head on his shoulder. "Shh," he says as he rocks, "shhhh. It's okay."

When Clint finally settles down, he tells Phil what's bothering him. "I wish we had our own kids." Clint's eyes are red, puffy and shiny and Phil thinks he can see straight into the soul the archer isn't convinced he has. Coulson looks at his husband incredulously, "I didn't think you wanted kids."

"I didn't… at first. But now I do. I want to see you be a dad and I want to give being a dad a shot." Clint's lower lip trembles a bit and Phil wants to scoop him up. "Clint, if you want a family, we can start looking to adopt. I've wanted kids all these years but I didn't ask because… well I know how you felt in the past." Meaning that Clint didn't think he was worthy of having anything precious or innocent such as children because of his shady past. "I have contacts all around the world, we'll adopt. I'll put some feelers out."

Through the length of the tale Clint's body has gotten more and more relaxed, his smile more and more precious. "Really? You think we can do this? That we won't be condemning some poor kid?"

Firmly, Phil stated, "The only thing we would be condemning a child to is a loving home. With a weird extended family consisting of a super soldier, a master assassin, a scientist who turns into a raging green beast, a Norse god and a super assassin."

With a laugh and their hearts lightened they fall back into bed, snuggle together, and dream of a family that could be.

* * *

_Seven years later_

Phil leans against a tree in Central Park, a cliché red and white checkered blanket holding remnants of the picnic. In his arms he holds a dozing four year old Elise, his poor daughter thoroughly exhausted. Her tope colored hair falls in loose ringlets, her naturally tan skin a contrast to his own milky white. The poor girl thoroughly exhausted herself trying to keep up with Penelope and Nikolai.

Not long after Phil and Clint began actively looking to adopt, a SHIELD informer and his wife were killed, leaving behind an almost one year old son. The Ukraine government, not wanting to endanger the child by leaving him in the country, consented immediately to the adoption, and a few weeks later they held their first child in their arms. A son, by the name of Nikolai Coulson.

Two and a half years later, after not having any more luck with the adoption search, Agent Maria Hill came to the rescue by offering to carry a child of theirs. Elise is biologically the child of Hill and Clint, with Phil pleading for her to carry the archer's child first in case something happened to him. He finally agreed, and the next day Elise was conceived.

"Look who I found!" The sound of his husband's voice snaps Phil out of his reverie. In his arms he carries Ian and Dillon, their two year old twin sons, and by his side a very pregnant Maria. Agent Hill had again come to their rescue with her offer to carry their child again. They'd used Phil's DNA this time, however, and it is obvious in the shape of their faces, the dark brunette of their hair, their sharp blue eyes.

Maria gently lowers herself to the ground, allows Ian and Dillon to talk to their baby brother or sister and leans against her hands as she smiles at her biological daughter. While Maria is their mother, she acts more like she's the fun aunt. Clint had worried endlessly during Elise's pregnancy that she would want to keep her, but Phil knew she wouldn't. She wasn't the family type- had never wanted children for herself. But she wanted children for Phil and Clint and she would be damned if they didn't get the large family they deserved.

This is the third baby she has carried for the Coulson family- it amuses her that Phil and Clint couldn't decide who should lend half the DNA, so they inseminated her with both. As the child grows older, she's sure it'll favor one man lookwise over the other. But Phil and Clint won't care, because in their mind, no matter who supplied half the DNA (or whole, in Nikolai's case), Ian, Dillon, Elise and Nikolai are their children in mind, soul, and spirit. And that's what counts, after all.

While Maria basks in the gentle evening sunlight, Phil watches The Avengers and their family. Natasha and Steve had two more child- both boys, one six and one Elise's age. Steven and Nathaniel are the spitting image of their father, except for Nathaniel's hazel eyes. Thor and Jane just had their first, a tiny little girl named Johanna. They're currently living in Hawaii, though Thor goes to Asgard quite often. Bruce doesn't have any children, but he finally got a long term girlfriend. And Tony and Pepper are, well, Tony and Pepper. Plus a Pepper junior- Rosemary. And thank the heavens, she has her mother's disposition.

* * *

Late at night, as Phil and Clint are in bed after finally getting Nikolai to put down his book and go to sleep, Clint whispers that Pepper is pregnant again. "The extended family is getting even more extended." He says with a smile. The Avengers weekly meeting has become a giant play date as well over the years, with the parents mostly discussing their children instead of saving the world. That makes Fury rather wroth on occasion, but Phil does his best to keep them in line. Though he would much rather talk about Nikolai's piano recital than recent Hydra activity.

"You know, this family work is exhausting." Clint says as he uses Phil's chest for a pillow, Phil's hand rubbing up and down the archer's arm. Phil grins to the darkness, "Yes, this family work is exhausting. You still can't fold laundry to save your life, and I still can't cook any sort of meat without leaving it bloody or charred. There's always a missing toy mystery that must be solved or else a tantrum may occur. Yes, this family work is exhausting, as is the extended family work. And I know I speak for us both when I say we'd never have it any other way."

Dual chuckles can be heard as Phil flicks off the bedside lamp and the exhausted fathers fall into sleep.

Only to be awoken at 4 a.m. by Dillon demanding a glass of water.


End file.
